Buying radio time

Anybody here do it? I'm working with a local NPR outlet that plays a lot of rock/roots/blues stuff. They offer to read your listing on the air, but I want a real ad spot with music. I think I'm going to have to go to a commercial station for that. I used to be a DJ, and I know I haven't got the chops to self-produce a broadcast-quality 30 second spot. What do I ask for? What's a reasonable rate to pay for a station-produced spot?

For a 30 sec radio ad (unless it&#8217;s a big event, I&#8217;d go with 10 sec ads - it&#8217;s cheaper) find a local commercial recording studio that does jingles etc, also some radio stations will do it all for extra $$$ - if your were here in Sonoma County, CA I&#8217;d recommend giving Blair at Zone Recording in Cotati, CA a call. After you have the cart - just get you checkbook ready and call the stations that you want it played on and ask about cost, time slots, package deals, hosting, etc - rates very. And or also check with some local advertising companies, IE, if you were here in Sonoma County, CA I'd recommend calling Chris at Vinson Advertising in Santa Rosa, CA (they have and get major TV/radio block rates). Anyway, have fun and good luck.

I did something like this years ago. We bought promotional items from the radio station (tour jackets, mugs, posters), in exchange for radio play and involvement (performances, on-air interviews, meet-n-greet, etc) at various radio station promotional events.

In the end, we realized most of the money (cash) was going into the pockets of various key people at the station and we never sold that much product.

Same with record stores -- you had to "buy" rack space. Never sold enough product to pay the monthly rent.

There are ways around direct exchange of cash. But, in the end, you cannot compete with the handful of major labels - they have way more money than you.